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Page C. Valentine

Publications and source records attributed to Page C. Valentine.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
USGS1998

Sea floor topographic maps and perspective-view imagery of quadrangles 1-18, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary off Boston, Massachusetts

The Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Mapping Project is a cooperative effort of the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with support from the University of New Brunswick and the Canadian Hydrographic Survey. The survey was conducted on four cruises over a two-year period from the fall of 1994 to the fall of 1996. The project is mapping an area of 1100 square nautical miles. The maps show a series of 18 quadrangles (see location map) in which sea floor topography is presented at a scale of 1:25,000.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1998

Brief notes on habitat geology and clay pipe habitat on Stellwagen Bank

In our studies of sea floor habitats, my colleagues and I use both biological and geological approaches. We call our studies “habitat geology,” a term coined by a biologist friend of mine. We view it as the study of sea floor materials and biological and geological processes that influence where species live. Some of the factors that we consider are the following: composition of the sea bed, which ranges from mud to sand, gravel, bedrock, and shell beds; shape and steepness of the bottom; roughness of the bottom, which is enhanced by the presence of cobbles, boulders, sand waves and ripples, burrows into the bottom, and species that extend above the bottom; bottom currents generated by storm waves and tides, which can move sediment and expose or cover habitats; and the way in which the sea bed is utilized by species. In addition, we take into account the impact of sea bed disturbance by bottom fishing trawls and dredges. Habitats characterized by attached and burrowing species that protrude above the sea bed appear to be most vulnerable to disturbance.

Book chapter↗
USGS1991

A method for the concentration of fine-grained rutile (TiO2) from sediment and sedimentary rocks by chemical leaching

Quaternary marine sediment in the Gulf of Maine basins contains 0.7 to 1.0 wt percent TiO 2 (determined by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry). Most of this TiO 2 exists in the form of silt-size rutile crystals that are visible by using the petrographic microscope with transmitted light (Valentine and Commeau, 1990). The identification of rutile was confirmed by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) system. To quantify the amount of TiO 2 in the sediment contributed by rutile and its polymorphs, anatase and brookite, it was necessary to eliminate as many of the other minerals as possible, especially titanium-bearing minerals such as ilmenite, ilmenomagnetite, biotite, hornblende, oyroxene, and sphene. We accomplished this by developing a method of chemical dissolution that removed the bulk of the raw material and left the TiO 2 minerals intact. Many methods using acids and bases have been developed over the years to dissolve rocks, minerals, and sediments for chemical analysis or to concentrate specific minerals (Dolcater et al., 1970; Church, 1971; Campbell, 1973, and the references cited therein). The method developed by Raman and Jackson (1965) to concentrate rutile and anatase in soils and sediments requires digesting the sample in concentrated hydrofluoric acid (HF) for 24 hours. However, Campbell (1973) found that digestion in HF for more than 2 hours results in a loss of anatase. The method of Dolcater et al. (1970) for concentrating titanium as a free oxide requires the use of hydrofluotitanic acid (H 2 TiF 6 ), which is difficult to find on the commercial market. The acid can be prepared by the reaction of concentrated HF (48%) with an excess of TiO 2 , but the procedure requires 36 hours to complete and should be attempted with caution because it is highly exothermic. Jackson (1979) provides a detailed method for digesting soils, but many of the recommended pretreatment steps employ sodium compounds such as sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ), sodium citrate (Na 3 C 6 H 5 O 7 -2H 2 O), and sodium dithionate (Na 2 S 2 O 4 ), which are used for the removal of calcium carbonate, iron oxides, and phosphates. In combining the methods of Dolcater and Jackson, sodium compounds must be thoroughly washed from the sample because they form sodium fluotitanate (Na 2 TiF 6 ) in the presence of hydrofluotitanic acid (Fig. 1K). French and Adams (1973) described an inexpensive method for decomposing silicates by HF digestion in polypropylene containers. Their technique was effective for a wide variety of rock types. However, it did not address the problem caused by the precipitation of insoluble fluorides, nor did it outline a procedure to concentrate any residue that remained. As no one method gave the results we required, we modified procedures described in the literature and developed a process that removes 96 to 98 wt percent of the raw sample material. The residue is composed of rutile and minor amounts of micro- and cryptocrystalline TiO 2 (Fig. 1A-J), barite (Fig. 1L), elemental carbon (coal), and insoluble fluorides (Fig. 1J). The fluorides precipitate during the decomposition of siliceous material in hydrofluoric acid (e.g., MgF 2 and MgAlF 5 -2.7H 2 O; Lanmyhr and Kringstad, 1966). Most of the sample analyzed by the method described were marine muds collected from the Gulf of Maine (Valentine and Commeau, 1990). The silt and clay fraction (up to 99 wt% of the sediment) is composed of clay minerals (chiefly illite-mica and chlorite), silt-size quartz and feldspar, and small crystals (2-12 um) of rutile and hematite. The bulk sediment samples contained an average of 2 to 3 wt percent CaCO 3 . Tiher samples analyzed include red and gray Carboniferous and Triassic sandstones and siltstones exposed around the Bay of Fundy region and Paleozoic sandstones, siltstones, and shales from northern Maine and New Brunswick. These rocks are probable sources for the fine-grained rutile found in the Gulf of Maine.

Economic Geology↗
USGS1982

Stratigraphy, structure, absolute age, and paleontology of the upper Pleistocene deposits at Sankaty Head, Nantucket Island, Massachusetts

The Sankaty Head cliff exposes drift of at least two glaciations and interglacial marine deposits. Radiocarbon, amino-acid- racemization, and uranium-thorium analyses were used to determine the absolute ages of the beds. The results indicate that 1) the Sankaty Sand correlates with oxygen-isotope stage 5 (Sangamonian), 2) the underlying drift is older than stage 5 (Illinoian or older) , and 3) the overlying drift is Wisconsinan in age. -from Authors

Massachusetts↗
USGS1982

A new instrument for sampling flocculent material at the water/sediment interface

We have designed an instrument to collect fine-grained and flocculent material from the water/sediment interface for chemical and mineralogical analysis. The sampler can be used from a manned research submersible or by a diver in shallow water. In areas of active deposition, the material collected represents the most recently deposited sediment. This material is of interest for determining the concentration of anthropogenic contaminants at the sea floor and may be a much more sensitive indicator of early contamination than are bulk samples collected by means of conventional grab samplers or corers. The instrument also may be well suited for sampling freshly flocculated or precipitated material from the sea floor, for example in estuaries or around thermal vents on mid ocean ridges.

Journal of Sedimentary Research↗